WHAT'S WITH MY KNEES, ZINNIAS, AND BEES

Blue glass watering bulbs, zinnias, and creeping jenny.

Nine days ago I had stem cell therapy on both knees.  The procedure was something that I have been researching for quite some time, and since my knees were becoming more and more painful, I decided it was time to go ahead with it.  

The stem cells that were used came from my own bone marrow and also from my own fat. The procedure was painful, but not unbearable.  I was hurting a lot the evening after the procedure.  The pain got better as each day went by. It is normal for it to take 7 to 14 days for the knees to return to the level of pain they had before the procedure.  One of my knees was worse than the other and had a lot more pain.  After the procedure my sort of good-ish knee got worse and my bad knee has gotten better faster.   

Each day, when I wake up in the morning, my knees seem to be a bit improved. Pain wise I am almost back to where I was before the procedure.  I was surprised yesterday, as I was working around in the kitchen, I noticed that for the first time in about three months, I was walking without being flat footed on one side and limping and dragging my foot a bit.  My knee, ankle, and foot were working together pretty much like normal again.   

New-to-the-neighborhood hummingbirds always examine the flowers in the basket on the door and leave disappointed.

Even though my knees are improving, they start feeling real worn out and aching by about 3:30 in the afternoon and I have to start wrapping my activities up so I can get off of my feet.  I haven't been doing anything out in my flowers since a few weeks before the procedure, because my knees had just gotten so bad.  I am glad that I got some pictures of this summer's flowers while I still felt like standing and taking pictures.

The big pink round shiny glass bowl was from the thrift store.
It was not a great year for my zinnias.  I believe it was because of the extremes with the weather.  It was a very good year for my hummingbirds that were here most of the summer, and have now migrated. And the zinnias continue to attract new hummingbirds as they migrate through the area.  I couldn't get a picture of the little birds, only the bees.

My Christopher Marlowe rose which was beautifully leafy and full all last summer, got brown spots on the leaves during the weeks of rain we had earlier this summer.  Even with the leaves dropping, it has had a lot of blooms on it all summer.  I didn't want to use any fungicides on it, because I have seen hummingbirds going to its blooms.  I don't think roses have nectar.  I wonder if hummingbirds can smell the roses. "hummingbirds...I love to watch them because they are so busy getting the most out of life.", Nora Ephron wrote in her book "I Remember Nothing". 

David Austin Christopher Marlowe rose still blooming after the brown spots

I have spent some of this quickly passing end-of-summer time reading books that my sweet friend brought to me. Thank you Shelly!  For a few days it was uncomfortable to have the laptop on my lap.  Two of the books I read were by Nora Ephron.  The first one I read was "I Feel Bad About My Neck".  The next one I read was "I Remember Nothing".  Excellent books that have both been around for several years.  If you haven't read them, I think you would enjoy them.  Both of them are funny, and many parts are especially touching given the perspective added by the passing of years.

My grandson with his hair slicked down for the first day of school.  Made me think of all of the little boys through all of the generations on their first day of school.  Some things never change.

Summer has almost slipped away.  My grandson started kindergarten this year. He is going to the same elementary school that my Dad, me, my husband, and my son and daughter attended.  It is still hot here, but there is that certain quality of light, and rhythm in the way that the days pass that gently reminds us how fast the seasons pass, and that maybe we should get busy getting the most out of life.

My Christopher Marlowe roses at the beginning of summer. There were enough for arms full of them.